Victory Over Death
All Hallows Eve • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 2 viewsNotes
Transcript
Pastoral Prayer
Our Community
Introduction
508 years ago today, Martin Luther attached a large sheet of paper to the door of the castle church door in Wittenberg. In the document, he challenged the Roman Catholic Church on 95 points on theology that he found concerning. Because he did this, October 31st has become known as Reformation Day to the Protestant family of churches.
Many of us have heard this story. But few know why Martin picked this day to post his 95 theses. He did so because he knew that the church would be filled that evening and the following day. You see, November 1 was a major church holiday. It was All Saint’s Day, a day where those believers who have gone into the presence of Jesus before us were remembered.
From the early centuries of the church, it was a day of commemoration in every region of the church. But it wasn’t until the 8th century that the whole church came together to recognize it on the same day. That day was November 1.
Every November 1, the church would come together to hold a time of celebration and fellowship as they worshipped God and remembered their fallen brothers and sisters. But the restoration of these individuals to God’s family was impossible without Jesus’ sacrifice. As the church did with Christmas and Easter, they began holding a vigil the night before a big church calendar event. They would meet together to pray and worship as they watched for the clock to strike midnight and see the ushering in of the holiday.
Thus, All Hallows’ Eve was born. The word hallow refers to an Old English word meaning holy person, or as we would know them, saints. Therefore, All Hallows’ Eve means the evening before All Saints Day. Halloween is a contraction of All Hallows’ Eve.
In medieval worship, All Hallows’ Eve became marked by masquerades and pageants that mocked death. People would wear costumes and dance around before marching to the church at the center of town to engage in the vigil. Those who wore costumes of demons and skeletons and monsters would cast them aside on the steps of the church as they entered. There they would be trampled on by the living saints as they went to celebrate Jesus’ victory over sin and death.
Unfortunately, as Protestant churches began reforming, much of the church calendar was disregarded. As they say, we threw the baby out with the bathwater. And, as happens, whenever the church abandons something good, the enemies of God are ready to grasp and distort the beauty of the thing that the church has released. We have seen this with universities, hospitals, and orphanages in addition to holidays.
In the 20th century West, free market businesses became good at marketing. In the 1950’s, candy companies commercialized Halloween and Easter to sell more candy, and the church stepped aside and let them do it. But the time has come for the church to reclaim all things, sanctify them, and bring them under the lordship of Christ once more.
Protestant churches are beginning to wake up to this reality—that we have been asleep and letting the enemies of God lead our culture while we sat in our church buildings and tried not to make waves. We have sat on the sidelines, all the while knowing that we wield the power of the living God. It is time for us to stand up, to engage in spiritual battle for the souls of our neighbors, and to reclaim all things in the name of the rightful King of creation.
And we begin that battle by proclaiming the truth of the gospel: Jesus has won the victory over sin and death. He has openly put God’s enemies to shame and stands as the victor of the battle.
We’re going to look at the book of Ephesians tonight, in chapter 1:
[MAIN PASSAGE SLIDE x4]
I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, (/) having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might (/) that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, (/) which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
There are two things that I want to point out to you in this passage. First, that Jesus, having been raised from the dead in victory over sin and death, has taken His seat in heaven at the right hand of God.
[POINT 1 SLIDE]
King (vv 20-21)
In the beginning of the book of Revelation, John calls Jesus “the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.” Jesus is the King of Kings, but He is more than that. In Matthew 28:18, after His resurrection, Jesus tells the disciples that He has been given “all authority in heaven and on earth.” Jesus has been lifted up by the Father and made King over all of creation, things visible and invisible, physical and spiritual. That is what Paul is proclaiming to the church at Ephesus.
Let’s look back at verses 20 and 21:
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
Paul says that Jesus has been given the seat at God’s right hand. For King Jesus to be at God’s right hand means that Jesus shares God’s authority, and for Him to be seated means that He is judge over creation. But He is not just King and judge over humanity, but over every spiritual being, which Paul calls “rulers and authorities and powers and dominions.”
These are spiritual beings who God created and had given them purpose in helping Him steward creation. Just like humans, these spiritual beings have each been given a task. But some of them rebelled and stand in opposition to their Creator. Jesus’ authority and power extends to these rebellious beings as well, and one day they will be brought to submission and be judged for their rebellion.
This is Jesus’ task—to restore creation to its original design. To destroy sin and death, complications of human rebellion, and to bring all things into submission to King and Kingdom. But Jesus doesn’t want to complete that task by Himself. He has chosen a people to help Him reclaim creation. A King can’t have a kingdom without a people.
[POINT 2 SLIDE]
Church (vv 22-23)
The church is the people of the King. Jesus has called His people to be holy and to follow His Spirit in battling the rebellious spirits and expanding the church to cover the whole world. We fight the enemies of God by speaking the truth of the Word of God—the gospel—and by restoring injustice caused by sin and death. Paul puts it this way in verses 22-23:
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
He says that the church is the body of King Jesus. In other passages, Paul will describe this in detail. The gist of his assertion is that we, as followers of Jesus, both individually and collectively, have been united to Him. We have become part of Him and part of God’s family. God has adopted us and given us an equal inheritance with King Jesus.
In this, we have been made royalty. We too will sit by the side of God and judge, in the age to come, those who have sided with sin and death. But, if we are truly united to Jesus, not only will we share in His benefit in the kingdom to come, but we share in His mission now as we wait for that kingdom.
It is our job to speak truth and call all creatures to submission to the king. It is our job to deliver restoration and justice in the form of Jesus to the world. It is our job to fight the unseen enemies of God by standing in the midst of an evil and apathetic world and proclaiming Jesus’ victory over sin and death.
Application
We must reclaim All Hallows’ Eve for Jesus. And it can’t stop there. The church must reclaim every soul and every home and every neighborhood and every city and every state and every nation for Jesus.
Being united to Christ, we share in His victory over sin and death. That truth should overflow our hearts and move us to engage in the mission of the King. We stand in the middle of a community and a world that are dying. People around us die every day and become separated from a loving God for eternity. I pray that our hearts would be shaken with compassion for them and move us to proclaim Jesus’ victory each and every day.
Invitation
For those here who have not made a decision to follow Jesus, I invite you to do that now. God created you by the hands of Jesus. But, we were separated from God because of our sin. We disobeyed Him and chose to live for ourselves. Every one of us has violated His ordered design. And yet, He loves us, even in our sinful state. But He loves us too much to let us stay that way. He desires a relationship with you. But we can’t fix what we have broken. We are hopeless in trying to fix ourselves.
But Jesus came to take our sin away and die in our place. He sacrificed Himself so that each of us, including you, could come back into relationship with God. Jesus only asks that you believe in Him and that you would give your life to Him.
Whatever you are doing to fix yourself, and your relationships, and your own vices isn’t working. Jesus offers you a better way. Let Him carry your burden. Give it all over to Him and make a decision to follow Him with your whole heart.
If this is you, pray that God would forgive you. Tell Him that you want to follow King Jesus. That is the easy part. The hard part is being obedient to the King. I would love to talk with you more after our service if you are interested in knowing what it is to follow King Jesus.
[THANK YOU SLIDE]
CLOSE IN PRAYER with CONGREGATIONAL BLESSING
